Scienceblogtwo

Researchers in biomedical engineering and medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney have separately uncovered new discoveries concerning the development of embryonic blood stem cells that, in the future, may do away with the requirement for blood stem cell donors. With these developments, regenerative medicine is moving closer to using "induced pluripotent stem cells" to treat disease. Instead of employing live human or animal embryos, adult tissue cells are used to reverse engineer stem cells in this situation. Despite the fact that induced pluripotent stem cells have been studied since 2006, there is still much that can be learned about how to safely and artificially mimic cell development in the human body in order to give focused medical treatment. One kind of pluripotent stem cell that can be produced directly from a somatic cell is an induced pluripotent stem cell. Any biological cell other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte, or an undifferentiated s...

When we breathe in, oxygen-containing air fills our lungs. This oxygen is then transferred to our red blood cells, which then carry it throughout our bodies. Our bodies require a lot of oxygen to function, and healthy people constantly have an oxygen saturation level of at least 95%. Ailments like COVID-19 and asthma make it more difficult for humans to absorb oxygen from the lungs. As a result, oxygen saturation levels fall to 90% or lower, signaling the need for medical intervention. Doctors use pulse oximeters at a clinic to keep an eye on oxygen saturation. The clips you place over your fingertip or ear are pulse oximeters. However, there may be advantages to regularly checking oxygen saturation at home. For instance, it might assist patients in monitoring COVID symptoms. Researchers from the Universities of Washington (UW) and California San Diego (UCSD) have demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study that cellphones are capable of detecting blood oxygen saturation levels as low as ...

Thalidomide's anti-angiogenesis (blocking of blood vessel development) features, which led to birth abnormalities when it was given to pregnant women, are the same characteristics that have spurred interest in its therapeutic potential in other fields. At the annual meeting of the European Society for Human Genetics on Sunday, Professor Miikka Vikkula of the de Duve Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, presented findings from a study on the use of thalidomide in patients with severe arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). These results show a significant reduction in symptoms and an improvement in quality of life as a result, and were just published in Nature Cardiovascular Research. AVMs are aberrant blood vessel clusters that connect veins and arteries and alter regular blood flow. They cause cardiac problems, severe discomfort, bleeding, and deformities of the affected bodily portion. They are typically congenital and frequently don't show until a pers...

Red blood cells with sickle/crescent shaped red blood cell anemia are inherited blood disorders. It results in a lot of infections, swollen hands and legs, pain, extreme exhaustion, and delayed puberty or growth. Treatment usually focuses on symptom management and may involve blood transfusions, antibiotics and immunizations to avoid bacterial infections, painkillers during acute crises, and hydroxyurea to lessen the frequency of pain attacks. The New England Journal of Medicine published a new study (Biologic and Clinical Efficacy of LentiGlobin for Sickle Cell Condition/Kanter et al.) that, if applicable, could lead to a cure for this terrible disease. Martin Steinberg, MD, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, offers commentary on the study's findings in an editorial published in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This was the first successful gene therapy study for sickle cell disease, adding a gene that prevents complicati...